The Light Remains When Scent Fades

The house is quiet now, and the only thing left of them is this small shirt in your hands. You press your face into the fabric, breathing in the fading scent, terrified that by morning even this memory will dissolve into the air.

The darkness feels heavy enough to crush you, a physical weight on your chest as you sit alone in the watch of the night. But there is light within you—a light that was there before the betrayal, and a light that will remain after the scent is gone.

It does not depend on the presence of another person to shine. You came from the light, and to that place you will return, no matter how far you feel you have wandered.

The scent will fade. The shirt will be folded.

But the light inside you cannot be lost, only forgotten for a moment.